Truth and Justice were the bedrock of the ancient Achaemenid Empire in Iran 2,500 years ago. The Greek historian Herodotus records an incident during the reign of the Achaemenid King, Cambyses II when a judge was found to have delivered an unfair judgement after accepting a bribe. The corrupt judge, Sisamnes, was ordered to be flayed alive and his skin was used to upholster the chair on which Sisamnes’ son was made to sit. ``Cambyses then appointed Otanes, the son of the condemned Sisamnes, as his father's successor. In order to remind the son of Sisamnes, of what happens to corrupt judges and not forget the importance of judicial integrity, Cambyses ordered that the new judge's chair be draped in the leather strips made from the skin of the flayed Sisamnes.’’

In ancient Zoroastrian Persia, the most dishonourable thing was to speak a lie. In fact, In Zoroastrianism, the lie, druj, is a cardinal sin. Herodotus says, ``The most disgraceful thing in the world they (Persians) think, is to tell a lie; the next worst, to owe a debt: because, among other reasons, the debtor is obliged to tell lies.''

In 1488, the Dutch artist Gerard David painted in graphic detail `The Judgment Of Cambyses.’ The over 500-year-old painting is displayed at the Groeninge Museum, Bruges in Belgium.